It will be a tall order for the Reds’ current boss.
Liverpool have reportedly reached an agreement with Xabi Alonso to become their next manager, though Arne Slot could still save his job at Anfield.
A report in Madrid-based publication Okdiario claims the Reds have reached a verbal agreement on a three-year deal with Alonso, which they will press ahead with unless Slot guides the club to glory in the Champions League.
Alonso was hugely successful as Bayer Leverkusen boss, but his brief spell in charge of Real Madrid came to an end in January following their defeat to Barcelona in the Supercopa de Espana.
The 44-year-old remains hugely popular on Merseyside, having tasted FA Cup and Champions League glory with Liverpool as a player prior to leaving to join Madrid, with whom he won LaLiga, two Copa del Rey titles and the 2013-14 Champions League before ending his career with Bayern Munich.
Despite his ill-fated tenure at the Santiago Bernabeu, Alonso’s arrival would likely be widely celebrated by Liverpool fans, many of whom have made their displeasure with Slot clear as he has endured a difficult second season in charge.
Can Slot save Liverpool job?
Slot enjoyed a sensational start to life in English football as Liverpool cantered to the Premier League title in his first season at the club.
However, there were signs of vulnerability in that title-winning side as they finished the 2024-25 campaign poorly after clinching the trophy.
The Premier League was their sole trophy from a season that once had Liverpool dreaming of a quadruple. Slot’s men were knocked out of the Champions League in the last 16 by Paris Saint-Germain, lost the EFL Cup final to Newcastle United and were dumped out of the FA Cup in the fourth round by Plymouth Argyle.
This season, despite spending £446million on improving the squad, with their moves including bringing in Alexander Isak from Newcastle for a British-record £125m fee and signing Florian Wirtz for £100m, Liverpool have struggled for consistency.
They sit sixth in the league, 19 points behind leaders Arsenal and outside the Champions League qualification places. Liverpool are behind fifth-placed Chelsea on goal difference, with fifth likely to again be enough for a spot in Europe’s elite club competition.
Having gone out of the EFL Cup early, Liverpool are through to the quarter-finals of the FA Cup, but that trophy alone would seemingly not be enough to salvage things for Slot.
Only the Champions League would do that, and Liverpool do not have an easy assignment in the last 16, as they face a Galatasaray team that beat them 1-0 in Istanbul in the league phase.
Liverpool are still the favourites to progress from that tie and reach the quarter-finals, but a reunion with holders PSG or a meeting with Chelsea would await them in the last eight.
In short, given their inconsistency and their significant vulnerabilities at the back, winning the Champions League looks to be an especially tall order for Slot.
The Dutchman looked like being the perfect long-term successor for Liverpool icon Jurgen Klopp after he delivered the club’s 20th English league title. Now, it looks as if his tenure may rapidly be approaching its conclusion.
For Slot, the saving grace is that two of his side’s better performances this season have come in the Champions League, with Liverpool claiming 1-0 wins over both Real Madrid and Inter Milan.
But those results were mixed in with the defeat to Galatasaray and a 4-1 home loss to PSV Eindhoven.
Liverpool’s league phase campaign spoke to the inconsistency that has defined their season, even if they did end it with a third-place finish.
Slot is in charge of a club with a storied history in Europe’s top competition, and he will seemingly need to write another unlikely chapter in order to prevent his job going to Alonso.
